Telomeres are sections of DNA that tell an interesting story about lifespan. Shorter telomeres usually suggest a shorter life -- but new research by a Wilmot lung cancer expert shows that longer telomeres might be a promising biomarker for a recurrence of early stage lung cancer.

Sepsis cases are rising with our aging population, yet there are no specific treatments to stop the syndrome. Scientists from the School of Medicine and Dentistry and the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences received $4 million from the National Institutes of Health to address this urgent need.

Platelets are known for their role in forming blood clots, but more and more research shows that platelets help control our immune system as well. A study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation suggests a new way in which platelets influence our immune response that could alter the treatment of arthritis, asthma and atherosclerosis.

In a recent study in Nature Immunology, Deborah Fowell, Ph.D., associate professor of Microbiology and Immunology, mapped how immune cells travel to sites of injury or infection. She says the findings could help with the development of treatments that stop, slow down or speed up the immune response. Check out this video of Fowell for more details on her work.

Tim R. Mosmann, Ph.D., Director of the David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, was awarded the 2013 Novartis Prize for Basic Immunology for a discovery that fellow scientists say “profoundly changed the way people think about the immune system.”

Leon Grayfer, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Jacques Robert, Ph. D., received a three-year fellowship from the Life Sciences Research Foundation to study the immune system of the African clawed frog. With the new award, Grayfer hopes to learn more about the evolution of vertebrate immunity and how we can better fight disease.

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The goal of this blog is to bring more medical research stories to light and provide our readers with timely and engaging coverage of scientific and medical developments here in Rochester and beyond.

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